Dangerous in Love - Tenten X Orochimaru
by Shadow-Cipher
Summary: A strange parody based on the spin-off series Rock Lee and his Ninja Pals, but pushed up a mildly more serious step for a shipping that nobody - including the author - will ever or should ever take remotely seriously.


Sometimes things were not always what they seemed, and people would often do some incredibly outlandish and bizarre things. Tenten could certainly attest to this, given the colourful member of her team - Rock Lee particularly. It wasn't that she disliked them, if anything, they were some of the people she trusted most. The constant lashings and outbursts weren't intended to come off as hostile, but rather as a way for her to tame the outgoing personalities she was surrounded by. Konoha on its own was already an outlandish place, and it was filled with a number of personalities, conflicting and friendly alike. With the sheer number of bright, energetic, and often boisterous personalities flitting about town, Tenten would often find herself absolutely worn out by them all by the time the sun retreated over the hill top. The leaf village on its own was a town of a thousand personalities, each one a bright star in the midnight sky that never seemed to fully flicker out, lights of varying colours, but all working in flawless harmony.

Today had not been all that different, at least not for Tenten. She tilted her head to the side and exhaled, the silence of the surrounding forest soothing her soul, even if only a little. The wind danced almost soundlessly between the leaves of the trees, leaving behind the mere sound of leaves scratching pleasantly against one another. Pitch black birds leaped across the sky, seeming as if they wanted their presence to be as clear as possible. Their motions were sharp, but slow, and they released awkward sounding cries into the sky as they progressed. The soft breeze of the wind was comforting to her troubled heart, the atmosphere alone easing her mind. Just when she thought she had finally solved one trouble, another one leaped from the brush and reared its ugly head.

Neji and Lee were always outgoing – or rather Lee was outgoing and roped Neji into his antics – but even for them, the line had been jumped over today. She had grown used to the strange things they managed to get themselves into, given they were her allies, and most of the things they said were, suffice to say, strange, but manageable. You didn't spend years training with Lee without getting used to some really weird things.

Yet, somehow, today has struck her differently. It didn't feel all that different from their usual antics, and in their eyes, it likely wasn't, but she just couldn't weed those words out of her mind, that entire encounter. She has lashed out like usual, thrown them nearly to the heavens in fury, but when she managed to get away from all of that and think, her mind wandered to different, calmer, but more complicated places.

How could their minds have gone there of all places? Did they honestly think she liked him, of all people? Had they really approached him about it? Even if they had, someone like him never would have taken them at face value. Orochimaru, he would never believe it anyways, and she had never once considered seeing him as anything but a threat to the leaf village.

Tenten leaned her back against a nearby tree, releasing a loud exhale as she gazed into the endless void of the forest. Somewhere out there the snake slithered in the brush, plotting his next attack on the village, and her initial thought was to bristle at his villainous intent, then to pass a harsh rustle in the hypothetical direction of Neji and Lee for actually thinking she could be interested in such a devious serpent. She tilted her head a little, gazing into the sky as it turned numerous beautiful shades of pink, orange, and other mixed colours. Evening was dawning, and it was quite beautiful to gaze upon, a perfect time to stop and think.

Why had they thought that? She took a step back to consider the situation. Thinking a girl of her age to be in love wasn't strange in the slightest. There were plenty of attractive men in the leaf village, and she was just the sort of girl to be seeking a relationship, a loyal companion to stand at her side. That mere thought alone wasn't strange, and she would have faulted nobody for merely thinking she was hoping for a relationship – though she definitely would have struck at an incorrect estimation of who she might like. Yet, Neji and Lee, they had taken a totally different route. Instead of thinking of one of the many promising candidates in the leaf village, they somehow arrived at the assumption that she was interested in the cunning snake Orochimaru. Why? She had never shown any interest in even partaking in a positive interaction with the fellow, never stated a liking of any traits he held. In fact, she hardly brought him up in conversation, not unless he was making a nuisance of himself of threatening the lives of her companions.

And why? Why did they have to sink her down to their level and actually tell him that? Surely they had to be jesting about that. She wanted to believe they were, but given the determination that Lee alone held strong to, she doubted it, as far out in left field as the idea might have stood.

Tenten took a few steps forward, simply observing the scenery, wondering about the insanity of her teammates, trying to imagine how they crafted such an image of her in their minds. Animals of any shapes and sizes were hustling through the forest, though many were nigh invisible to the human eye. Birds, rodents, insects, and yes, likely snakes. Tenten knew for a fact that snakes of many sizes and colours were likely slithering through the undergrowth, just as slippery and intimidating as the very man that lived in their image. Snake themselves weren't horrible animals, but he certainly crafted an interesting image for them.

Had it been anyone else, she likely would have sought them out and apologized for the stupidity of her teammates, apologized for such a far fetched request. He was the exception to the rule. Just the mere concept of wandering into the middle of a forest in the evening to seek out a dangerous criminal for any purpose, nonetheless a trivial one, was stupid at the least, but likely a horrible error in judgment for the existence of her safety and well being.

Tenten chuckled. He had likely pushed it out of his mind already. Someone with such complex goals likely had bigger fish to fry, literally and metaphorically.

It was strange. She couldn't stop thinking about the situation, about Neji and Lee implying she was romantically interested in Orochimaru, about them approaching him on the subject, and always considering the hypothetical outcomes, rare as they may be. He had likely abandoned the entire thought, so why couldn't she? It wasn't as though this was the first dumb thing Neji and Lee said, and it by no means would be the last. So why was she so hung up on this one stupid interaction? Why after this many hours of it occurring, was she still thinking about it?

She couldn't help but shake her head at her own thoughts. For a fleeting moment, an idea so dumb, so irrational passed through her head, that even Lee himself would have likely laughed at the thought. What if she really did have some interest in Orochimaru? She pushed the very idea aside, refused to interact with it. That was silly. He was a criminal, and not a pleasant one at that. He had blatantly insulted her to her face, as well as tried to kill her friends on numerous occasions for seemingly no valid reason. Even if neither of those were the case, he wasn't her type. But, then again, what was Tenten's type?

Tenten considered that query, but realized she couldn't come up with a proper answer. There were lots of things she personally liked, but as for qualities in another person, well, she hadn't put much thought to it. Lee and Neji were great people, but she had never viewed either of them as romantic partners. She crossed through the people she knew in the village. Naruto, Sai, Kiba, Shino... So many people, but none quite checked that list she had never even considered the existence of. But surely, absolutely so, Orochimaru wasn't the type of person she was looking for.

The thought kept prodding at her, a thousand different voices tempting her with different ideas and thoughts. No! Absolutely not! Surely there would just be no connection between them on either end of the spectrum. Forbidden or not, criminal or hero, he just wasn't a particularly fun to be around man.

Not that Orochimaru was a horrible looking man. Tenten had met a variety of people in her life, as aforementioned, and while personality often stuck out to her more, it was almost impossible not to at least notice what a person looked like. Orochimaru was certainly a very different looking man, with the ghostly pale skin, the beady serpent eyes, and the purple rings around his eyes, but calling him hideous was certainly a bit of a stress. Considering his age, and what he had been through in his time, he looked quite fine. But his personality, that was a different story. To be fair, while Tenten could list of loads of negative traits about the man, she couldn't deny positive traits hidden within. Confidence, determination, dedication, intelligence. Though the man clearly walked the path of a god-like complex, he was definitely sure of himself, confident in his own skills, and completely aware of what he wanted in life, insane as it might have been. In a way, Tenten felt a little envious, for the idea of being so confident, so proud of oneself, and so sure of ones goals were a trifle foreign to her.

Tenten suddenly snapped back into the real world, where the sun glowered dimly in the sky and birds called to the clouds above. No, it couldn't be. Stop saying nice things about Orochimaru. He's a psychopathic criminal, bent on the destruction of others for sheer amusement, twisted in an obsession on obtaining unrealistic measures of power. He didn't care about her life, so why should she put any merit on his?

No matter how much she told herself that, though, no matter how many times she insisted she was insane for thinking kindly of the serpent, he returned to her thoughts. Maybe she was just being blinded by the sheer insanity of the past situation. Perhaps she just needed confirmation, a way to affirm that this entire concept was stupid.

Tenten knew what she had to do.

She had to confront Orochimaru.

She had to walk up to the man, look him in the eyes, and tell him right to his face that she didn't like him. He wouldn't understand, and approaching him alone would be terribly dangerous, but she couldn't keep spending the hours of the day thinking about this ridiculous idea. If she could look him in the eye and insult him, this stupid idea would finally flee her mind once and for all.

So, she departed, no second thoughts, no preparations. She couldn't tell anyone, for they would surely think her insane for even considering seeking him out at all, nonetheless alone and as evening was quickly falling upon the earth, and should she try to gather supplies for a trip, they would be nothing but a means to delay the inevitable, so she simply left. There were no questions asked, no thoughts passed around a second time.

Tenten knew this wasn't going to be easy, and as she carried herself deeper into the woods, this became more and more apparent. The woods were a twisting place, and like many long-thriving criminals, he left practically no stepping stones to follow. She knew he was somewhere out in these woods, hidden within the trees and brush, deep in the shadows, but it wasn't as though he were planning to leave her signs. Admittedly, given how things had progressed for her as of late, she half expected to turn the next corner and see a giant sign pointing the way to his headquarters, but she was relieved to find nothing so ridiculous existed. She was fairly deep into the forest at this point, practically working on a whim. The sun was falling lower and lower into the horizon, where sooner or later, it would be lost forever. She disliked the idea of being deep into these dark woods after dark, worried of what may attempt to take her down. It wasn't as though she hadn't stayed in a dangerous forest overnight before, but just as much as it had indeed happened, it didn't mean she enjoyed it particularly, and it definitely didn't equate to enjoyment of the event.

She glanced down as something or someone brushed over her foot, only to find a long, narrow snake attempting to slip between her toes. She drew back her foot quickly, yelping in shock. The snake was tossed up a little, then landed back upon the ground. The snake drew back, lifted its head up, and released a vile hiss, threatening Tenten off. A few moments passed, the snake hissing in fury, Tenten merely staring at it. Then, the snake relaxed. Its sharp eyes flashed behind her for a moment, then the snake turned around.

Tenten approached the snake as it attempted to leave. Almost as if it knew it were being followed, the snake turned around hastily and hissed once more at the girl. Upon receiving no reaction, the snake returned to its business.

It felt silly, but she followed the snake, keeping a fair distance so it wouldn't spot her. She wasn't sure why she was following it. Orochimaru didn't control all snake life. The snakes weren't going to worship him and his shrine. The odds of this snake taking her anywhere near Orochimaru was incredibly unlikely. The longer she trailed the angry serpent, the dumber this idea felt, and she was mere moments from realizing her error and turning around, when she stopped a disturbance ahead of her.

There appeared to be a structure ahead, mostly embedded in the ground. The snake rushed towards it, climbing upon the statue that seemed a bit too much like the creature. The bit of the structure that was above ground was a stone serpent head, a few unlit torched adorned on the sides. In the center of the structure was a quite large staircase. It almost seemed too easy, an unguarded staircase leading right into Orochimaru's base. Surely he couldn't have a base this easy to enter and be acting undetected. Yet, she couldn't think of many people who would build a snake statue in the middle of a forest, and even less of a reason to put a staircase on it. So, against her better judgment, and despite how silly it sounded, she approached it.

Tenten was cautious as she proceeded down the stairs. The entire time she was descending into the pit, she was waiting for a trap to spring, something or someone that would either try to subdue her or steal away her very life. It never happened. She hit the bottom of the stair case and it was just as lifeless as it had been on the way down.

This time, though, the torches adorning the halls were lit. They were infrequently spread, and only offered dim lighting to the cavernous hallways, but it was an improvement, and enough for her to at least see where she was going. This was also a chance to get out of this place before something actually did kill her.

Tenten kept going.

She had already come this far, already dedicated this much effort into this horrible decision. Like it or not, dangerous or safe, she was going to see this through. So despite what seemed like the better idea, she continued deeper into the bowels of the sinister den of the snake, seeking that which many would not openly seek.

A voice echoed through the stone halls, a vile, sinister voice that seemed almost too pleased with itself. There were no words to follow, nothing more than a mere joyful laugh, but the voice itself was more than obvious. That broken voice, that sinister undertone. It was definitely him. She tilted her head in the direction of the cry, almost as if it were a beacon for her. Without hesitation, she raced down the hallway, though her steps slowed progressively as a single room came into view.

At the end of the long hallway, lit by a few dim torches, was a single doorway, which led into a frankly dark room. The lights were actually dimmer within the room than they were out in the hall, and though she could see into it well enough, the details of what exactly she was looking at was sketchy. She stepped closer, slowly, nervously looking into the room. If he was in here, and he spotted her, she couldn't turn back. This was, without a doubt, the very last moment she had to abandon this fool's errand, to turn back and get far away before the serpent spotted her. She had considered it for a moment, moved her attention away from the room for just a mere moment, and that alone had been enough.

"How did you get into my base?" a voice yowled from the room, sharp and rough.

Tenten lifted her head, her heart racing as fast as it could possibly go. Standing in the doorway of the room was the serpent himself, Orochimaru. His yellow eyes were piercing and sinister, and though much of his hair drifted in front of them, the way they seemingly sliced into her heart was still obvious. He was very unhappy.

She couldn't believe her own choices now. The very moment her eyes locked with his, she regretted each step she had taken to get here. He was far more terrifying when you were alone with him, alone in his den. Nobody was here to back her up, and nobody knew where she was. She lifted her hand nervously, waving it down the hall a little, as she replied, "You, um, don't guard the front entrance."

His eyes narrowed almost immediately, and she knew her comment hadn't been appreciated in the slightest. At first, he wasn't responding, and that alone was enough to put Tenten on edge, but even worse was when he began approaching her. He lifted up a hand, and Tenten was taken aback as a furious white serpent erupted from the base of his arm. The serpent stretched its maw wide, latched tightly on to her shoulder, and threw her roughly into the wall. She yowled in pain the moment the fangs of the snake broke skin. The snake kept its fangs deep in her shoulder, blood dripping down the shoulder slowly, leaving a small, subtle, sticky read trail in its wake.

Orochimaru kept his arm held up, the snake holding her in place for him. She swallowed nervously as he glared sharply at her and hissed, "How many friends did you bring? Where are they hiding?"

"I-I came alone," Tenten admitted a bit too quickly.

"Do you expect me to believe that?" Orochimaru growled in response.

Tenten struggled a little in the grasp of the snake, though doing so only lead to more pain. Tense in the muscles, she answered, "I swear on my life, there isn't anyone else here with me."

Orochimaru grinned now. "That's a big gamble to make right now. I might just take you up on it." Tenten had no comeback. Without warning, Orochimaru thrust back his arm. As the snake still held Tenten firmly in its fangs, she went flying with it. Halfway through the swing of his arm, the cunning serpent withdrew the snake, fangs and all, and Tenten crashed on the ground a few measly feet away from him. He stepped closer to her, looking down upon her small figure. "Let's say I believe you, for now anyways. Why would you dare come to my base, alone? Are you hoping for death? This is certainly an interesting way to attain it."

She considered rising, but thought that might be too quick of movement for his liking. He had already shown a hairline trigger reaction towards any acts in his direction, and the last thing she wanted was to set him off anymore than he already was. So instead, she simply looked up at him. "I came here to insult you."

"To what?" Orochimaru seemed taken aback. "You wandered out into the middle of the forest, walked into my headquarters, and approached me alone, to insult me?"

"Yes," Tenten admitted straightforwardly.

Orochimaru rolled his eyes. "You really are a clueless girl, aren't you?"

"I have to do this!" Tenten howled, though there was a flash of her that wish she hadn't.

"Do you now?" Orochimaru jeered in her direction.

She arose now, and though it seemed hasty at first, she was pleased to see he was showing no negative reaction towards her movement. At least, not any more of a negative reaction than this sheer event was already causing from him. Once she was on her feet, she turned to look at him once more. "Look, my friends were stupid, telling you what they did, and I'm not going to be able to get this stupid situation out of my head until I look you in the eyes and insult you."

Orochimaru was finding this all increasingly difficult to believe, and the mere idea of a lone girl putting her life in danger to throw a petty insult his way was absolutely ridiculous. He had considered thrusting a snake sword through her chest and finishing her off right here and now. The snake would tear apart her internal organs, and even if by some miracle she survived, the blood flowing rapidly from her body would end her life in no time. Yet, there was a small part of Orochimaru that found this entire event amusing, a slice that was curious to see if she truly intended to commit to this silly idea. So despite the bloodlust encouraging him to cut her apart, he held his hostile intent in for the time being.

Narrowing his eyes a little, Orochimaru purred, "I'm waiting." He stepped close to her, bending over a little so he could stand at her level. He took the offense, staring fiercely into her eyes, the yellow glint practically flickering with hostility and ferocity. "Go on. You came here to insult me. Do it."

Tenten glared back into his fierce eyes. The venom was immediately obvious, and she knew at this point he was mocking her stupid endeavor. The way he had lowered himself literally to her level, openly looked at her first. This was all a game to him, and it was a game she intended to put an end to quickly. She considered insult ideas, but eventually decided improvisation was the best route. She lifted her eyes to meet his gaze head on, and that's when her heart halted.

"You...!" The insults just completely vanished from her mind as her eyes met his. All the malice, all the ill intent, every negative emotion she had been feeling towards him just seemed to simultaneously disappear into thin air, almost as though they never existed. Suddenly a thousand different conversations were racing through her head, arguments, issues, confusion, admiration. She had seen his malice filled eyes a thousand times from a distance, but her heart felt a completely different reaction when she met them this close up. There were mere inches from one another, and the detail and emotion living within his snake-like eyes truly came alive when she was this close to him. He truly was alive, colourful. Suddenly, she felt differently towards him. Her angry expression eased up a little, and the first word of an insult she had been gearing up to say just couldn't form any more words. "You are..." She just couldn't talk.

Orochimaru's expression shifted into one of sheer confusion. The fire this girl has expressed not five minutes ago was gone. She seemed nervous, and not in the way he expected people to be when encountering him. His jeer vanished from his face, and he frowned in confusion. "I what?"

"You're... you're really..." she mumbled.

"Yes..." he hissed angrily.

She lifted a hand now, moving it closer and closer towards the serpent until it eventually met with his shoulders. His frown extended as the mere tip of her fingers touched his shoulder. Confusion only took further control of him.

"You're..." she was trying to form the right words.

Orochimaru growled, "What are you doing?"

"Nice," Tenten finally said, a single word, but a clear completion to the sentence.

"Nice?" Orochimaru asked with a hiss, utterly confused. "What kind of insult is that? I've heard better insults from newborn babies!"

At first, Tenten didn't seem like she was going to elaborate, but after several long, painful moments of silence and frankly uncomfortable staring, she did so. "When I came here, I wanted to prove to myself that Neji and Lee were being stupid, when they did what they did." Orochimaru tried to wrack his brain for that information, when she provided it for him. "When those two idiots told me they had approached you and told you I was in love with you, I was furious at how stupid they were, and I was determined to make it clear that I definitely didn't feel that way. It was the only reason I came here in the first place, conclusion." She hesitated.

Orochimaru remained still, but his eyes were filled with more confusion than hers.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, you're not as bad as I thought you were. You're... really nice." She leaned in closer towards him, her nose practically touching his forehead. "I'm kind of glad I came here."

Orochimaru's expression hardened suddenly, his eyes becoming mere narrow slits on his face and he stared her down. He kept his stance low, and his eyes remained trained intensely on her own, maintaining their fierce glint. Tenten was quiet, but held his gaze, though she kept her atmosphere pleasant rather than intense. With a quick hiss, Orochimaru finally spoke up. "You. I have several words to say to you."

Tenten was taken aback was Orochimaru leaned closer to her shoulder, his warm breath hitting the side of her neck. His long tongue flicked momentarily from his mouth, grazing across her skin for a fleeting moment. Even though his eyes were no longer locked harshly with hers, the fierce expression remained unchanged. With his mouth next to her ear, he whispered his response with a long hiss.


End file.
